


For Want of a Stage Assistant

by MyriahKamm



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M, Magician!AU, Minor Character Death, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-21
Updated: 2014-09-02
Packaged: 2018-01-25 23:32:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1666514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyriahKamm/pseuds/MyriahKamm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rei Ryugazaki is an up-and-coming magician who has recently hired Rin Matsuoka as his office assistant. But what Rei really wants is a stage assistant. Someone he can dress up in flashy outfits and, y'know, saw in half occasionally or something. Rin, on the other hand, has no idea why this weird blue-haired guy who's obsessed with beauty would want him, of all people, as a stage assistant. He's just there to make some money for college.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. There's No Such Thing As Magic

**Author's Note:**

> So for this fic Rei is in his upper twenties and Rin is just out of high school, so 18 or 19.  
> Also, each chapter is going to switch third-person focus, starting with Rei in Ch. 1, then switching to Rin in Ch. 2, then Rei in Ch. 3, and so on.

 

Rei Ryugazaki looked up from his notebook to watch his young office assistant as he began sweeping. Rin Matsuoka had been working for him for just a few weeks, now, mainly spending his time cleaning up the place. He had started out just cleaning the makeshift office (that was really the study in Rei's home), but had quickly impressed Rei enough to allow him to help clean up the stage after each of his magic shows as well.

Rei was a pretty darn good magician, if he said so himself. His obsession with beauty caused him to focus on certain qualities of his act that many other magicians ignored, often making his act flow better and thus be more aesthetically pleasing and intriguing to audiences. And that aesthetic consciousness didn't stop with his acts. No, it permeated every aspect of his life.

Which was why he was so impressed with his assistant. He had hired Matsuoka initially based on the grace with which the boy moved. Rei valued beauty in everything, so of _course_ his assistant would have to not only _be_ beautiful, but _move_ beautifully, too. And this kid was exquisite, even when he was simply sweeping or dusting the office.

It posed a _bit_ of a problem occasionally. Rei found himself paying too much attention to the boy as he made his way around the office tidying up. Honestly, calling him a “boy” wasn't even fair at this point. Matsuoka was nineteen years old, nearly twenty. Perhaps Rei kept thinking of him as a boy due to his fierce naivete, though. Matsuoka, bless his heart, barely understood his own skill, his own grace, his own attractiveness. It was obvious that he hadn't done much dating or anything in the past, as he blushed furiously whenever Rei gave him the smallest of compliments. And every time he was brought to such a state of embarrassment, he grew upset with himself for showing so much emotion and shut down for the remainder of the day.

Sighing heavily, Rei turned his attention away from his young assistant and focused once more on the notebook in front of him. He was trying to develop a new illusion for his act, but he hadn't quite worked out all the kinks yet. The flow wasn't quite right, which would make it look bad once he tried it on stage, not to mention the fact that the reveal wasn't _nearly_ big enough at this point.

_I could do a heck of a lot more if I had a stage assistant,_ he thought, glancing once more at Matsuoka. He would be lying if he said he hadn't hired the young man with precisely that in mind. It was part of why aesthetics had been so important in his evaluations of the applicants: he had to be sure they would look good next to him on stage if it came to that.

But Matsuoka had made it clear that he didn't think much of Rei's act, or magicians in general, for that matter. This was a job for him, nothing more. It was a way for him to make some money to save up for college.

_I'm sure I can convince him,_ Rei thought to himself, writing a few more notes into his notebook. _I'm sure I can convince him **somehow**._

“Do you need anything else today, Ryugazaki-sama?”

Rei looked up from his notebook again, surveying the room. Everything had been swept and dusted to his specifications; the room looked spick and span, just as Rei liked it. He sent a smile Matsuoka's way.

“You've done an excellent job, Matsuoka-kun,” he praised him. “I'd like it if you'd stick around for a while longer, though.”

Matsuoka sighed animatedly and plopped down into a chair situated along the wall to Rei's right, across from the door. He stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed them at the ankles, then laced his fingers behind his head and leaned back in the chair. He was relaxing after the strenuous day of ridiculously specific cleaning Rei always assigned him.

“I would like you to become my stage assistant, Matsuoka-kun.”

Matsuoka sat up straight again, his hands moving to grip the arms of the chair. “What?”

“I said I would like you to become my stage assistant. If you want.”

The young man shook his head. “No way. This whole magician thing isn't my bag. Sorry, Ryugazaki-sama.”

“May I ask why not?” Rei pressed, resting his elbows on the desk and steepling his fingers in front of him.

“Because there's no such thing as magic. I don't understand why the heck anyone would pretend there is.”

“Magic exists. I've seen it.”

Matsuoka scoffed. “You don't need to keep up the act around me, Ryugazaki-sama. I _know_ magic isn't real. You're not going to convince me otherwise.”

Rei held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “All right, all right. Point taken.”

“Can I go now?” Matsuoka asked with a huff. “I have stuff to get done at home, too, y'know.”

“Of course. If it isn't too much trouble, could you come by earlier tomorrow? I would like you to come in around 10 am if possible. You'll be paid extra, of course.”

Matsuoka heaved an exaggerated sigh. “I guess I could come in early. It's not like I had any plans tomorrow, anyway.”

That was part of his personality, Rei had learned fairly quickly: Matsuoka flip-flopped between being incredibly formal one minute and wholly irreverent the next. It had been jarring at first, but Rei had grown accustomed to it within a few days, especially after realizing that yelling at his young assistant about it wasn't going to get him to change. At this point, Rei was simply glad when Matsuoka acknowledged him at all, because half the time he didn't.

“I would appreciate it,” Rei told him with a smile. “I'll see you tomorrow, Matsuoka-kun.”

“Later, Ryugazaki-sama.”

Matsuoka stood up, grabbed his school bag from next to the door, and headed out of the office. Rei rolled his chair back so he could look out the window and watch his young assistant leave the house, throw his school bag over his shoulder, and start off down the street. He chuckled to himself.

“No such thing as magic, huh?” he muttered, adjusting his glasses. “That depends on what kind of magic you're talking about. I suppose I'll have to teach you about _real_ magic, Matsuoka-kun. No such thing as magic, indeed.”

Once Matsuoka was out of sight, Rei turned back to his desk and picked up his pen, beginning to sketch out a new illusion. Inspiration had struck, and he wasn't about to let it slip away.

 


	2. Rin's Idiot Boss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin's thoughts on his boss and his job as he does some painting. (No, seriously, that's what it's about.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry, I could NOT think of a decent chapter title to save my life. I guess this one works.

Rin stepped out of the shower around nine o'clock the next morning and started drying himself off. Nine in the morning was a _ridiculous_ time to be awake on a Saturday. He supposed it would be worse if he was still in school, but he'd graduated the previous semester and was just trying to save up a little money so he could go to college. It wasn't so easy to save up for college while living in a single-parent household and helping his mom with some of the financial burdens their family faced.

But he didn't want to think about that.

Shaking his head, he got dressed and headed out to the kitchen. His mom had already left for work that day, so he would have to get his own breakfast before heading to Ryugazaki's place for his own job. He yanwed as he grabbed two pieces of bread and put them in the toaster. Within minutes, he was buttering his toast as Gou came into the kitchen in her pajamas, rubbing her eyes.

“Oni-chan?” she asked, clearly still half asleep.

“I have to go into work early today,” Rin explained, stuffing one piece of toast into his mouth. “You should go back to sleep.”

Gou shook her head. “I have a big school project due on Monday, and I want to get an early start on it.” She grabbed a bottle of juice from the fridge and poured each of them a glass. “Why do you have to go in early?”

“Who knows?” Rin took a large bite out of his second piece of toast. “My idiot boss told me to come in three hours early today. He never tells me _why_ he does anything.”

“You should talk nicer about him,” Gou scolded. “He was nice enough to give you a pretty darn easy job. And he pays you well for it, too. Besides, working for a magician would be so cool!”

“He and every other magician out there are complete frauds,” he muttered, folding his arms across his chest.

“When are you going to get past that? It's been almost seven years since it happened.”

A scowl formed on Rin's lips. He finished off his toast and then made his way toward the door.

“I'm heading out,” he called back to his sister. “See you later tonight.”

Before she could respond, he left the house and started the half-hour walk to Ryugazaki's place. The guy had a nice house, Rin would give him that. It was on the edge of town and was pretty darn big; it had six bedrooms, three bathrooms, a huge kitchen, an even bigger living space, and of course the study which served as the office for Ryugazaki's magician stuff. He didn't know _why_ his boss had such a huge house, because he lived alone. A lot of that space seemed wasted, in Rin's opinion.

He made it to Ryugazaki's place by nine forty-five and waited outside. He didn't want to spend any more time around that fake magic stuff than he had to. Still, Rin's job wasn't _all_ bad. He couldn't deny that, although Ryugazaki's career choice annoyed him, the guy was pretty attractive. Having a little eye candy to look at while he worked wasn't the worst thing in the world.

Rin didn't know exactly what it was about Ryugazaki that he found so attractive. He couldn't really put his finger on it. Was it the blue hair? Or the violet eyes? Or the stupid yet somewhat adorable way the guy adjusted his red-rimmed glasses, pushing on the outer edges of the frames with his thumb and middle finger and obscuring the lower half of his face in the process? Rin shook his head, running his fingers through his hair slowly. Getting all hot and bothered before his job even _started_ that day wasn't going to be very helpful.

After taking a few minutes to compose himself, he heaved a heavy sigh and headed into the house, making his way to the office. He heard the sound of a hammer pounding on something even before he opened the door. Ryugazaki appeared to be putting some sort of huge wooden box together, and was nearly done. When Rin cleared his throat, Ryugazaki turned to look at him. It was obvious, given the bags under his eyes, that he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before.

“Jeeze, did you work all freaking night?” Rin demanded, raising an eyebrow.

“When inspiration strikes, Matsuoka-kun, you can't ignore it,” his boss replied, adjusting his glasses. “Once I've finished putting this together, I'd like you to paint it. Just follow the notes on the sketch I left on my desk.”

“What are you going to do, Ryugazaki-sama?”

“Take a nap,” he answered with a chuckle. “I have a show to do later this evening, and I want to be well-rested for that. If you wouldn't mind doing the painting before you get to your other duties, I would appreciate it.”

“Sure.”

Ryugazaki finished hammering away at the box and then took a step back, wiping sweat from his brow. He studied the box for a moment before nodding and looking at Rin.

“You only have to worry about painting the outside for now,” he said. “I'll do the inside myself after my nap. Please come wake me at one o'clock if I'm not already awake. I'll be in the master bedroom.”

“All right. Sleep well.”

As his boss headed out of the room, Rin went over to the desk and studied the sketch in the open notebook. Painting would be a nice change from the normal, monotonous cleaning he normally had to do. He grabbed the cans of paint and paint brushes next to the desk, and the notebook, and took them all over to the box, where he immediately started painting the thing.

It took him two hours to paint the box to Ryugazaki's exact, ridiculous specifications. Truth be told, though, the amount of time it took was partially Rin's own fault. When it came to artistic things like this, especially things that were going to be on display, he was pretty perfectionistic himself. Even if no one knew that this was his work, _he_ knew, and he needed it to be as good as possible if people were going to see it.

After he finished painting the box until it looked like the starry night sky, he spent the next hour sweeping and dusting the place. By that time, it was one o'clock. He headed through the house—Ryugazaki had given him a tour when he'd first started working for him—until he came to the master bedroom and opened the door.

His boss was curled up on top of the blankets, still fully clothed, fast asleep. Ryugazaki's glasses were lying on the nightstand next to the bed. His azure hair was mussed. His arms were wrapped around the pillow his head was resting on.

He was actually pretty adorable.

Rin shook his head, chuckling uneasily. He _really_ didn't need to be thinking about his boss like that. Especially not when his boss was a magician. Magicians were only good at tricking people, in Rin's opinion. Ryugazaki might have been attractive, but he wasn't worth Rin's time.

“Oi, it's one o'clock,” Rin said loudly, shaking Ryugazaki gently.

Ryugazaki's eyes fluttered open and he sat up, yawning. He blinked a few times, rubbed his eyes, grabbed his glasses and slipped them on. Rin looked away from him, but not before he caught sight of his boss's ridiculous bedhead and warm smile.

“Thank you for waking me, Matsuoka-kun,” his boss said, stifling another yawn. “I have one more extra favor to ask of you today.”

“Yes, Ryugazaki-sama?”

“Could you invite some of your friends to the show tonight? They may attend free of charge.”

Rin was taken aback. “Some of my friends?”

“Yes. I would like to see what a slightly older audience thinks of my act.” Ryugazaki smiled once more as he stood up and stretched. “I've been considering creating an act for teenagers and young adults. I would appreciate input from my target audience.”

“I...I guess I'll see what I can do,” Rin muttered. He headed out of the room and pulled out his cell phone, dialing Nagisa Hazuki's number. If anything, Nagisa would be interested. He was always super excited for literally everything.

The phone rang a few times before Nagisa finally picked up.

<“Rin-chan! What's up?”>

“Hey, Nagisa, are you busy this evening around seven o'clock?”

<“Ooooo, why? Are you asking me out?”> The blonde chuckled on the other end of the phone.

“No, you idiot,” Rin snapped back. He took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing. “My boss has a magic show tonight, and he's offering free admission to my friends.”

<“Are you serious?! That's awesome!”> Nagisa shouted. Rin could just picture him jumping out of his chair and grinning that stupidly enthusiastic way he always did. <“You leave it to me, Rin-chan! I'll call Haru-chan, and Mako-chan, and even Ai and Sei! We'll all be there! Oh, and can I bring Gou-chan?”>

Rin scowled. He still didn't know how he felt about Nagisa dating his younger sister, but he supposed this wasn't really the time to be stubborn.

“Sure, if you want,” he grumbled. “Look, I have to get back to work, okay? Send me a text when you get a hold of everyone.”

<“I will, Rin-chan! See you later!”>

Rin hung up the phone and met his boss back in the office. Ryugazaki was admiring the paint job on the box, throwing Rin statement after statement of praise for his artistic ability. Once he was done applauding Rin's work, Ryugazaki grabbed some other cans of paint from the closet and started painting the inside of the box. He insisted that Rin keep from looking inside until it was finished. He also insisted that Rin take a break from work for the next couple of hours, which was a bit of a shock. Ryugazaki rarely let Rin take it easy.

But the most surprising part of the day was when, an hour later, he received a text from Nagisa saying that everyone would be at the show that night.

Rin could hardly believe his friends were so excited about something so childish.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next few chapters will start getting into more interesting stuff. I just had to have a couple of chapters that introduced both Rin and Rei in this Magician!AU. Please stick around for more!


	3. The Magician's Plan

Everything was going according to plan.

Rei finished preparing things for that evening's show with a couple of hours to spare. Because they had some time before the show, he took Matsuoka out to a nearby tempura restaurant for dinner. To his surprise, Matsuoka didn't object, instead muttering about how it was about time his hard work was rewarded. Rei brushed off his bravado; kids were always a bit arrogant like that, especially Matusoka. They sat across from each other eating dinner, not even really making small talk.

Not yet, anyway.

“So, Matsuoka-kun, what are your plans for the future?” Rei asked him nonchalantly.

Matsuoka shrugged. “Get enough money to go to college and get a decent-paying job once I finish so I can help my mom and sister out financially. I'm the man of the house, after all, so I have to help provide for them.”

“Where's your father?”

Matsuoka dropped his chopsticks, a look of shock crossing his face before quickly being replaced by one of anger. He clenched his fists, staring at the plate of food in front of him.

“He's gone,” he said through gritted teeth.

The young man didn't elaborate, and Rei decided that pressing him wasn't the best idea at the moment. He cleared his throat, taking a bite of chicken, and looked thoughtful for a moment. Changing the subject, or at least getting back to his original line of questioning, would probably the best option right now.

“Do you have any idea what kind of job you want when you finish college?” he asked, trying to get Matsuoka to focus on something a little less triggering.

“I dunno,” he muttered, seeming to calm down a bit. “I guess I don't really care. I'll do whatever I can make enough money to help send my sister to school and help my mom be in a better place financially.”

Rei nodded a bit. “That's very noble of you, sacrificing your own happiness for your family like that.”

Matsuoka shot him a glare. “Who's to say it doesn't make me happy to help my family out?”

“You just don't strike me as the kind of person who would be happy in a high-paying corporate job, Matsuoka-kun,” Rei told him, shrugging. “That seems like far too monotonous of a profession to keep you interested.”

The redhead looked down at his plate again. He took up his chopsticks to take a bite of shrimp tempura, taking a long time to chew it. He was giving himself time to think up the best answer, Rei was sure. After a minute or two, he swallowed and sighed heavily.

“It's not like I have much of a choice. I need to be able to make enough to help them out _and_ provide for myself.”

“There are some, shall we say, _eccentric_ jobs out there that could make you the money you would need.” Rei finished his food and dabbed at his lips with a napkin. “For instance, if you would agree to become my stage assistant, you would receive a considerable raise.”

Matsuoka rolled his eyes. “For the last time, Ryugazaki-sama, I'm _not_ going to be in your stupid magic show. It's just not my kind of thing.”

“Fair enough. You should finish your dinner so we can head back to the office. I need to get things ready before the show tonight.”

 

 

An hour and a half later, Rei was studying himself in the mirror of his dressing room at the theater where he was performing that night. He wasn't sold on his costume, if he was honest with himself. It wasn't as beautiful as he would like it to be. The red torso clashed so awfully with the navy blue sleeves, and the fabric was far too rough-looking. And the navy slacks were so worn that they were almost the consistency of sweat pants instead of dress pants. But, alas, he didn't really have the extra funds at the moment to pay a tailor for a new one.

Not if he wanted to have enough money to give Matsuoka a raise once he agreed to become his stage assistant, anyway.

He had too many other expenses at the moment. There was the rent on the stage space for his shows, which wasn't cheap. (Eventually, when he got good enough, venues would start paying _him_ to show up rather than the other way around. He couldn't _wait_ for that time to come.) Then there was the considerable mortgage on his house and the monthly bills like electricity, gas, water, and the like. There were the monthly grocery expenses for food and for supplies such as wood and paint to create his illusions. And, of course, there was Matsuoka's current hourly wages to pay.

Things would start looking up once Rei had a stage assistant. He would be able to perform bigger and more impressive illusions, which in turn would attract larger audiences, thus earning him more money. And then he could hire a tailor to make him a new stage costume, which would improve the aesthetics of his show, which would make _him_ feel all-around better about it, which would make his performance run even smoother than it did already.

The knock at the door shook him from his thoughts.

“Everything's all set up, Ryugazaki-sama,” Matsuoka said from the other side of the door. “It looks like there's actually a decent-sized crowd tonight.”

“Are your friends here, Matsuoka-kun?” he called back.

“Yeah.”

“Could you please ask them to stick around after the show? I'd like to speak to them about what they thought of it while it's still fresh in their minds.”

“Uh...sure. All right. I'll go do that. You've got about ten minutes until showtime.”

“Thank you, Matsuoka-kun.” Rei adjusted his shirt once more before nodding at himself in the mirror. “Once you've spoken with your friends, stick around backstage as usual.”

“Will do.”

He heard Matsuoka walking away from the door. Taking a deep breath, Rei donned his navy blue top hat and studied himself in the mirror once more. What he wouldn't give to have a beautiful costume, rather than this hand-me-down he was wearing. Although it had nostalgic significance, it wasn't what he wanted to be remembered for. With another nod, he headed out of the dressing room and toward the stage. He peeked out from behind the curtain covertly. Matsuoka was right; there was definitely a decent-sized crowd that night.

Rei would have to make this a memorable show, even _if_ he could only perform solo illusions at the moment.

 

 

Once Rei's performance was done, he was amazed to receive a round of enthusiastic applause, even from Matsuoka's friends. He gave a deep bow and flashed a smile to the audience when he straightened once more. Matsuoka closed the curtain, as he did at the end of every show, and started cleaning up the stage almost immediately. After about ten minutes, Rei opened the curtains a bit, glancing toward the back few rows where Matsuoka's six friends were seated. He gestured for them to come up to the stage, which they did, looking eager. Matsuoka came over and stood slightly behind and to the left of Rei, arms folded across his chest, looking a bit bored.

“That was amazing, Ryugazaki-sensei!” the redhead who could only be Matsuoka's younger sister exclaimed, beaming.

“Yeah, I was completely shocked when you made that dove disappear!” the blond boy said, mimicking a magician's hand movements as though he was doing the trick himself right there. “It was really cool!”

Rei glanced surreptitiously at Matsuoka, who rolled his eyes. He clearly still wasn't quite impressed. But that was all right. Rei had a plan in mind to get him interested.

“If you all have some time, I'd like to talk to you each alone for a few minutes about the show,” Rei said with a smile. “It would be a great help to me in developing my next show.”

A din of excited murmuring rose from the group. They all nodded, their murmuring growing into what bordered on yelling. Chuckling, Rei lifted his hands in an effort to quiet them and locked eyes with the tall brunette, who blushed at the intense eye contact.

“Would you mind coming with me first?” Rei asked him with a smile.

“S-sure!” the brunette agreed in a gentle voice.

Rei led him to a side room off the stage where he had already set up a couple of chairs. He grabbed a notebook sitting on one of the chairs in order to take notes.

“Thanks for taking the time to help me out, Mr...?”

“Makoto Tachibana,” the young man replied, blushing again. His green eyes seemed to sparkle in awe. “I'm actually a pretty big fan, Ryugazaki-sensei.”

“I appreciate that. I would like to mention that your eyes are beautiful.”

Tachibana blushed even more furiously, stammering his thanks. The seeds were sewn. If Rei had judged this young man right, that would be all he needed for his plan to work.

“Now, I just have a few questions...”

He ran through a few general questions about the performance that night: what did Tachibana like, what did he dislike, was there anything in particular he thought should be changed or added, those sorts of questions. But they weren't what Rei was _really_ interested in. He set the notebook aside and offered the brunette another smile.

“That's about it,” he said. “I just have one more question that's a little bit off topic. Do you have any idea why Matsuoka-kun dislikes magicians so much?”

“Ah...it's not magicians, really,” Tachibana explained, rubbing the back of his neck. “It's the idea of magic, the idea of people saying they can _do_ magic. I don't know exactly what happened, but I think he was disappointed by a magician in the past. His sister Gou could probably tell you more about it.”

“All right, then. Thank you, Tachibana-kun.” Rei stood up and held out his hand. When Tachibana shook it, Rei gave his hand a little squeeze. Tachibana blushed yet again, appearing incredibly flustered. “If you wouldn't mind sending in one of your friends, I'd appreciate it.”

“Sure. It was nice meeting you, Ryugazaki-sensei.”

Rei watched Tachibana leave the room, bashful as ever. He sat back down and smiled. Yes, everything was falling into place. If everything went according to plan, Matsuoka would agree to be his stage assistant within a couple of weeks.

And maybe, just maybe, he might agree to be more than that.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't really intend for magician!Rei to be quite so devious, but he sort of took on a life of his own. Rest assured, he's still a great guy underneath all that sneakiness. :P


	4. Well THAT Was Unexpected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the others talk about how amazing the magic show was, Rin comes to a startling realization.

 

Rin raised an eyebrow when Makoto came back out to the stage looking flustered. He sent Nagisa off to talk to Ryugazaki and sat down heavily on the stage, his cheeks red.

“Sheesh, you'd think you just met the girl of your dreams or something, Makoto,” Rin muttered. “What the heck did the two of you do in there?”

“He just asked me some questions,” the brunette assured him, looking at his hand. “He's quite the gentleman, isn't he?”

Rin scoffed. “Are you kidding me? He's a pretentious jerk.”

“Pretentious?” Makoto looked confused. “Where are you getting that from?”

“Yeah, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense,” Seijuro said, raising an eyebrow. “I mean, if he was really _that_ pretentious, wouldn't he have a better costume? His skill makes up for it, but that outfit is just _atrocious_.”

“Since when did you become the fashion police, Sei?” Gou teased. “Have you seen what _you're_ wearing?”

“Hey, what's wrong with what I'm wearing?!”

“I guess olive green slacks aren't _that_ bad, but the yellow undershirt really ruins the look.”

Rin rolled his eyes. The two of them often got into little spats like that. It's why they hadn't dated for very long after they'd started. As much as he hated to admit it, his sister really did get along a lot better with Nagisa. The blonde did a pretty great job of breaking up the arguments she and Seijuro got into, too.

“Rin.” He glanced at Haru, who had taken a couple of steps away from Gou when she and Seijuro had started arguing. “You don't hate him just because he's a magician, do you?”

“There must be another reason, right, Rin?” Aiichirou chimed in.

Shaking his head, Rin folded his arms across his chest and turned away. He realized he didn't really have an answer. He'd just been thinking about Ryugazaki as pretentious from the moment he'd met him simply because of what he _was_ ; he didn't exactly have any proof to back up that claim.

And actually, the more Rin thought about it, Ryugazaki was actually... _nice_. He was paying Rin an awful lot for a ridiculously simple job. He often praised Rin's work, even when he was just sweeping and dusting the office or cleaning up the stage after one of Ryugazaki's acts. He'd gotten Rin dinner more than once when he'd been at work a little later than anticipated. And he was offering Rin a promotion and raise when he could barely afford to guy himself a decent costume for his act. All of that was really, _really_ nice.

In fact, as far as Rin knew, the only thing about Ryugazaki that he didn't really like was the fact that he was a magician. It wasn't that his act was _bad_ or anything. In fact, if Rin didn't know it was all just stupid tricks, he might actually be impressed by it. Heck, what really made Ryugazaki's act was the fluidity of his movements. The guy moved like a big cat: silent, graceful, and powerful.

A shudder ran down Rin's spine. He felt a bit disgusted with himself at the realization that he'd actually been mentally _complimenting_ the guy. Nice or not, Ryugazaki was still a magician, which meant he made a living tricking people, tricking _kids_ mostly. That in itself made him a fraud and a jerk. And Rin was definitely _not_ okay with that.

It took almost another hour for Ryugazaki to finish talking to everyone one at a time. When that was all done, Ryugazaki told Rin he could go and spend time with his friends, offering to take all the equipment back to the office on his own. Since he generally didn't get much time to hang out these days, Rin gladly left with his friends, who were headed to Haru's place.

_Add another tally under the 'nice' collumn for giving me the night off,_ Rin thought grudgingly. _Why can't he just be mean? That would make it so much easier to hate him._

“I can't believe you guys actually _liked_ that,” Rin muttered once they reached Haru's place. Haru began making them all some mackerel—honestly, some things never changed.

“What's not to like?” Nagisa asked, his magenta eyes sparkling in awe. “Ryugazaki-sensei's act is amazing! Just imagine what he could do if he had an assistant!”

He winked at Rin, who merely rolled his eyes. How had Nagisa found out about that? Ryugazaki wouldn't have told him about it, would he? Rin supposed he shouldn't be surprised, as the blonde somehow seemed to find out about literally _any_ secret anyone in their group of friends had. If anyone was going to find out about it, it would be Nagisa.

“Look, Nagisa, I'm _not_ going to be his assistant.” When everyone frowned at him, Rin shook his head. “You guys _know_ I hate magicians! I don't understand why you all think it's so cool that he makes a living tricking kids!”

All his friends exchanged worried glances for a moment, and Rin had to wonder just what the _heck_ was going on. It was like they were all planning something behind his back, and he didn't like it. He eyed them all warily.

“None of you are going to change my mind about this,” he said firmly, folding his arms across his chest. “I have _no_ desire to be a magician's assistant, _especially_ not on stage! Can we _please_ talk about something else?”

For a few minutes, everyone was silent. The only sound that could be heard was the sizzling and popping of the mackerel Haru was cooking on the stove. Rin leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. The _last_ thing he needed was his friends all trying to get him to become Ryugazaki's assistant, too.

“...y'know, if nothing else, he's pretty damn attractive,” Seijuro said at length.

Rin rolled his eyes for about the millionth time that night.

“I _know_ ,” Makoto chimed in, a dreamy look coming over him. “Those legs just go on for _miles_ , don't they?”

“I really like his eyes,” Gou added with a contented sigh.

“Gou!” Both Rin and Nagisa cried her name at once.

“What? His eyes are really gorgeous!” She gave Rin a pointed look. “Don't tell me you haven't noticed it, nii-chan! You work with him every day! You _must_ have noticed how his eyes sparkle like amethysts!”

Rin ignored them, opting to focus on Haru's cooking instead. He was beginning to feel strangely, though. He was angry about the whole conversation, honestly. But it wasn't just because they were talking about Ryugazaki; it was because they were talking about how _attractive_ he was. Rin had _definitely_ noticed how good Ryugazaki looked plenty of times before. He wasn't exactly a fan of hearing about it at the moment, though, nor was he a fan of the detail they were going into while talking about it.

But he couldn't place what he was feeling about it. He wasn't upset about it because he didn't like Ryugazaki. That's not what he was feeling. It was more like...he felt angry about it. Angry that _they_ were pointing out that Ryugazaki was attractive. Angry that anyone other than _him_ had noticed how attractive he was.

But he _refused_ to admit what those feelings meant.

“This is the one Saturday night I've had off in ages, guys,” he said with a heavy sigh, helping Haru pass out plates of the cooked mackerel. “I'd really rather not spend it with all of you drooling over my boss, if it's not too much to ask. Can we please, _please_ talk about something else?”

The others all looked at each other, several of their cheeks turning an unnatural shade of crimson.

“Say, Haruka, how's university treating you?” Aiichirou asked. Rin smiled a bit. Leave it to his former _kouhai_ to ease the tension in the room.

 

 

A few hours later, Rin and Gou were walking home. It was late, so they were both glad not to be alone. Rin offered his sister his jacket when it started getting cold. She looked up at him and grinned a ridiculous, I-know-something-you-don't-know sort of grin.

“Oh, _what_?” he asked, rolling his eyes. Rin was far too tired to deal with anymore of this tonight.

“You have a crush on him,” Gou said matter-of-factly.

“On who?”

“On your boss, silly!”

Rin stopped short and shot her a glare. “Of course I don't! That's ridiculous!”

“Then why did you get jealous when we were all talking about how attractive he is?”

“I was _not_ jealous!”

Okay, that was a _complete_ lie. He _had_ been jealous, he just hadn't let himself admit it. Gou merely giggled and stood on her tip-toes to press a kiss to his cheek.

“Whatever you say, nii-chan!”

Since they were almost home, Rin wasn't too worried when she ran on ahead of him. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and followed after her. By the time he got home, Gou was already telling their mother all about how exciting the show had been and about how they'd had a great time hanging out with all their friends. Rin murmured something about taking the first bath and headed into the bathroom. Within minutes, he was sitting in the tub, staring at the surface of the water absently.

He _had_ been jealous. Maybe...maybe he _did_ have a crush on Ryugazaki.

Brushing his hair back, he leaned back to stare up at the ceiling.

“Well,” he muttered to himself, “ _that_ was unexpected.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With any luck, we'll get to some REAL magic in the next chapter. As always, kudos and comments are appreciated! (I need to know I'm not just boring you all. :P )


	5. Vanishing Act

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rei shows his new illusion to his office assistant, despite the fact that Rin really doesn't care for magic. What happens next surprises even the magician.

The next afternoon, Rei was practicing his new illusion with the box he'd had Matsuoka paint the day before. He rarely got any calls or clients coming in on Sundays, so he was prepared for a day alone practicing new illusions and tricks for his act. This new illusion would be his best yet, thanks in no small part to Matsuoka's impressive paint job on the vanishing box.

After practicing the trick somewhere around a dozen times, he was surprised to hear the front door open and close again. Closing the vanishing box, Rei headed into the foyer to see Matsuoka standing there. For a moment, the two of them just stared at each other, one shocked and the other determined.

“Matsuoka-kun?” Rei asked slowly. “It's Sunday. You don't have to be here.”

“I know I don't _have_ to be here,” the young redhead said angrily. He closed his eyes for a moment, shook his head, and took a deep breath, opening his eyes once more. “Look, you don't have to pay me for today. I just... _want_ to be here.”

“Oh?” Rei smiled the slightest bit. “All right. Come on into the office.”

He led Matsuoka back into the office, clearing a bunch of equipment and tools from the chair the younger man usually used. Matsuoka thanked him and sat down. Although he'd looked determined when he'd come through the door, he now seemed a bit befuddled, as though he really didn't know why he was there. He cleared his throat a bit, glancing around.

“So, do you always work on Sundays?” he asked. He was obviously trying to sound somewhat disinterested, but Rei heard a little too much curiosity there for nonchalance to be believable.

“It's the best time to test out new illusions for my act,” Rei explained with a nod. “It's also the best time to practice them with few interruptions.”

Matsuoka frowned. “If I'm bothering you...I can leave.”

“No, no, it's fine if you stay. In fact, I know you don't like magic, but would you mind watching my new trick?”

He fully expected the young redhead to refuse, to grumble about how stupid and dishonest magic was, or maybe even to criticize Rei personally. That was _usually_ what happened if he asked Matsuoka to help him directly with any part of his act. Which was why what he _actually_ said was so shocking.

“Okay.”

Perhaps the _most_ surprising thing about it was that, rather than sounding reluctant, he sounded sincere, almost eager. That single word was such a big step in their working relationship because it indicated that Matsuoka was willing to at least _try_ to help Rei's act get better, now. Even if it was a change solely motivated by the kid's need for money, it was a very welcome change in Rei's opinion.

“Great,” Rei said with a smile. “You can just sit there and watch. It won't be as flashy as it would be on stage, of course.”

“Whatever. Just show me.”

Rei arranged some curtains around the vanishing box and nodded when he felt everything was set up the way he needed. Then he took a deep breath, posing in front of the box. He went through the motions of his act: bowing at the beginning of the trick, gesturing animatedly toward the box, turning it around on its wheeled base to try to convince his audience that it was nothing more than an ordinary box. The next part was the more complicated part, the part he wasn't quite sure worked yet. This was why he needed to test the illusion in front of someone before trying it on stage.

If he had a stage assistant, he or she would serve as a distraction for the audience while Rei “disappeared.” Most magic is about misdirection, after all, and having more than one person on stage helped with that. Without a stage assistant, though, he would need to perform this particular illusion perfectly and stealthily every time because the audience's attention would be solely fixed on him.

He opened the box, hitting each side firmly to prove that it was solid, and stepped inside. He took an exaggerated breath before closing the box. For about thirty seconds, he waited in hopes of creating dramatic tension. In order for the next part of the trick to work, he had to be both quick and quiet. Pressing his left heel against the small loose panel at the bottom back wall of the box, he rapidly opened it as tacitly as possible. He grabbed the black string attached to a mechanism designed to close the door while he crouched down and slipped backward out of the box. As the panel closed and he crept back behind the curtains, he pulled the string out of the box, opening the doors at the front.

Now it was just a matter of getting back out front without being spotted. That was what the curtains were for. He got down on his hands and knees and crawled around the stage left side of the curtains, slipping behind his desk, and then around behind and to the right of the chair in which Matsuoka was seated. He stood up straight and cleared his throat, grinning when Matsuoka turned around and looked shocked for a moment. Then the young man folded his arms across his chest, raising an eyebrow.

He looked grudgingly impressed, much to Rei's surprise. After a moment, Matsuoka gave a curt nod.

“It's pretty good,” he muttered. “Convincing enough, I guess. It's obvious how you did it, though.”

“Oh? Is it?”

“It's got to be a loose panel on the back wall or something. And the reveal isn't big enough.”

Rei sighed. “Yeah, I had a feeling that was the case.” He made his way back over to the desk and studied the several pieces of paper laying out on it. Each of them detailed a different reveal for the trick. “It's just tough to do vanishing illusions like this solo. There are so many things to take into account, so many factors to consider.”

At the moment, facing the desk, his back was to his young office assistant, so he couldn't actually see him. But he could hear the redhead shifting in his chair, heard him take a deep breath.

“What if you had an assistant helping you?” he asked slowly.

Rei turned and looked at him. Matsuoka had his gaze averted, looking literally _anywhere_ but Rei's face.

“It would be significantly easier with a stage assistant,” Rei told him, trying to hold back the smile threatening his lips. It was too soon to get excited; he couldn't do that until Matsuoka actually agreed to help. “I could also do much more elaborate illusions with the help of an assistant.”

Matsuoka stood suddenly and began pacing the length of the office. He paced back and forth half a dozen times before raking his fingers through his hair and sitting back down. He stared at the floor, shaking his head, and then finally looked up at Rei. The bluenette could practically feel the discomfort rolling off of Matsuoka in waves.

“I hate magic,” he muttered with a frown. “I really, _really_ hate magicians.”

“Yes, you've made that painfully obvious from the moment I gave you this job,” Rei agreed.

“There's something...different about you, though, Ryugazaki-sama.” He rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. “You don't seem as secretive or fake as other magicians. I feel like...like you don't do this to trick people, but because you feel like you're doing something good, somehow.” His frown deepened. “I get the feeling you wouldn't betray me.”

That last statement was said so quietly Rei was almost certain he'd heard Matsuoka wrong. Rather than press the redhead to find out what exactly that meant, he merely gave a curt nod and waited for him to continue. He would have plenty of time to figure out what happened to Matsuoka to make him hate magic so much later.

“I can't promise I'm going to like it,” the young man admitted, “but I guess I could be your stage assistant. I feel like I owe you for giving me an easy, good-paying job, and giving me a decent amount of time off, and...I don't know. You've always been pretty darn nice to me, and I haven't made that easy, y'know?

“So, yeah, I'll be your stage assistant. I'll help you with your act and all that. Just don't try to force me to like it.”

Now Rei let himself smile. “That sounds great, Matsuoka-kun. Starting tomorrow, then, you'll be my stage assistant. It'll probably take about a week for you to learn the basics. You won't have to do shows with me right away, probably not for at least a few weeks. Does that sound good?”

“Yeah. Uh...I hate to be forward, but you mentioned that I'd get a raise if I became your stage assistant?”

“Of course. I can give you a two-dollar-an-hour raise right off the bat. Once we've had some bigger shows with larger audiences, I can probably increase that even more.”

Rei held out his hand toward Matsuoka; after a moment of just staring at his hand, the young man shook it and then bowed.

“Thank you, Ryugazaki-sama,” he said evenly.

“If you're going to be my stage assistant, I want you to drop the 'sama,' okay?” Rei suggested. “We'll be more like partners at that point, since my success on stage will be as much your responsibility as my own.”

“...o...okay, Ryugazaki,” Matsuoka replied slowly, rubbing the back of his neck again.

“Why don't you head on home, Matsuoka-kun? When you come in tomorrow, I'll teach you all about being a magician's assistant.”

Matsuoka nodded. “See you tomorrow, Ryugazaki.”

And with that, he left the office. Rei grinned, grabbing his sketchbook and a pencil. His next few shows would be mostly traditional solo tricks, he decided. For the moment, he would focus on preparing things for his new stage assistant; the first step would be designing a perfect costume for Matsuoka to match, or perhaps complement, the one Rei had been designing for himself.

He wondered if Matsuoka would be opposed to wearing fishnet leggings...

 


	6. Crucial Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Rei reveals the new trick he wants Rin's help with, Rin reveals something even more shocking.

“No way. No _freaking_ way! You can't be serious!”

Rin stared at the sketch Ryugazaki was holding up. It was a sketch of him in a stage costume, but the thing was all wrong. There was  _ no way _ Rin was going to wear it. No way in  _ hell _ . It looked practically like a black, long-sleeved, sequined leotard with fishnet lettings.  _ Fishnet leggings _ . It looked like something a woman would wear! There was no way he was going to wear something like that,  _ especially _ not on stage!

It had been almost three weeks since he'd agreed to become Ryugazaki's stage assistant, and at this point he knew far more about magic than he'd ever planned to learn. He'd only actually participated in two shows thus far, and mostly with smaller illusions, but Ryugazaki said they were now ready to start showing the bigger illusions they'd been working on for the past few weeks. Bigger illusions, though, meant they would need to finally get “more beautiful” costumes, to quote Ryugazaki. And  _ this _ ridiculous thing was apparently what the guy had come up with.

“What's wrong with it?” Ryugazaki asked defensively. “It looks gorgeous! And it complements the costume I've designed for myself perfectly! The color could be tweaked, obviously, but I think it would look spectacular on you!”

“It's something a _woman_ would wear!” Rin protested, shaking his head.

“Not necessarily. I used to wear things similar to that when _I_ was a magician's assistant.”

“I'm _so_ sure.”

Ryugazaki went over to the bookshelf and studied the books there for a few minutes before grabbing one of them. He nodded as he looked at the cover, then brought the book over to the desk. It turned out it wasn't really a book at all, but a photo album. Ryugazaki opened it and paged through it until he apparently found what he was looking for. He gestured for Rin to look at the photos.

Most of them looked like they'd been taken during magic shows. The magician pictured actually looked a lot like an older version of Ryugazaki, minus the dorky red-rimmed glasses. He was wearing the same flashy, ridiculous costume consisting of a red torso and navy sleeves, slacks, and top hat that Ryugazaki wore on stage during his acts. It took Rin a moment to realize that the young stage assistant in the photos was Ryugazaki when he'd been a kid. He paged slowly through the photo album to look at the different costumes young Ryugazaki had worn: an outfit quite similar to the one he'd designed for Rin, one that made him look like a butterfly with a black thorax and violet wings, and one that consisted of little more than a men's gymnastics uniform in mixes of red and navy, among others.

To Rin's surprise, the last one—the only outfit expressly designed for a man—was the one that looked the worst on stage. The other ones, the ones Rin would normally assume were designed more for women, actually looked pretty damn good. That _could_ be because of his crush on Ryugazaki, of course, but...

He shook his head. That definitely wasn't worth thinking about at the moment. He decided to focus instead on the other aspect of these photos that interested him. Pointing at the magician in them, he glanced at Ryugazaki.

“Who's that?”

“Ah.” Ryugazaki smiled, a wistful look crossing his face. “That's my grandfather. He was an amazing magician, and was gracious enough to allow me to be his stage assistant.”

“So you went into the family business, then?”

“Something like that. My father declined to become a magician so that he could better provide for our family. He wanted me to be able to follow in my grandfather's footsteps without worrying about the financial side of things when I first started out. I only have this house because of the inheritance I earned from him and my mother when they passed.”

“I suppose this explains your ridiculous costume,” Rin muttered, looking at the photo album again. He focused on a picture near the end of the album of Ryugazaki with his arm around his grandfather; Ryugazaki was wearing his grandfather's costume, his grandfather dressed in a formal business suit. “Can I help you design a costume for myself on stage?”

When he looked up, he saw Ryugazaki smiling. “Of course, Matsuoka-kun. I have something else to show you today, anyway, that you should keep in mind when considering a stage costume.”

He went over to a large, box-shaped object covered by a sheet. Rin had noticed it when he'd come in to the office that day, but had been sort of ignoring it up until that point. He'd learned that Ryugazaki would explain things to him when he was ready, never before. Ryugazaki pulled the sheet off of the box to reveal a large water tank.

Rin felt the color drain from his face. He was intimately acquainted with this particular kind of tank and with _exactly_ what the illusion that went with it was called. The Chinese Water Torture Cell, made famous by American magician Harry Houdini. The moment he processed just what the thing was, he felt his heartrate increase, felt his hands beginning to shake. He envisioned a man struggling inside the tank, drowning, as another man swung an axe at the glass, but it refused to break. Rin felt nauseous and lightheaded before everything went black.

 

 

“Matsuoka-kun.”

Rin groaned, but didn't move. His head was swimming, and he couldn't focus. He needed his head to clear before he could do _anything_ , including open his eyes.

“Matsuoka.”

The voice sounded anxious, which was a bit surprising. He'd never heard Ryugazaki sound like that.

“ _Rin_.”

His eyes fluttered open out of shock. Ryugazaki had never used his given name before. It was a little bit thrilling to hear his name pass the bluenette's lips, honestly. He sat up slowly, holding his head.

“...what happened?” he asked slowly.

“You blacked out,” Ryugazaki explained, concern still dominating his tone. “Take it slow.”

It all came back to him like a rushing freight train. He took a few deep breaths in an effort to calm down, wrapping his arms around himself. Closing his eyes, he shook his head in hopes of ridding his mind of the images flashing through it.

“Are you all right, Matsuoka-kun?” his boss asked softly.

Rin shook his head again. “I won't do that trick with you. I won't help you with the Chinese Water Torture Cell.”

Ryugazaki was silent for a few minutes.

“May I ask why not?” he inquired at length.

It wasn't like Ryugazaki was going to just drop it. Rin knew him too well at that point to believe that he would just drop it. He would keep badgering Rin until he finally told him. And Rin didn't have the energy for that at the moment.

“My dad was a substitute stage assistant for some dumb magician whose name I don't even remember,” Rin muttered, his tone deadpan. Inside, though, he was a mix of warring emotions: seething anger, gnawing fear, crippling grief. “He was helping with that stupid trick. Something went wrong. And he...he...he drowned. The guy had promised that my dad would be fine, had promised that 'magic would keep him safe,' had promised that nothing bad would happen! And then he just...he...”

Ryugazaki's eyes widened slowly. “You were there, weren't you? You saw it happen?”

The redhead nodded, turning his gaze downward. He realized he was seated on a bed; where the heck were they? It had to be one of the guest rooms. That meant Ryugazaki must have carried him in there.

“I'm so sorry.”

Normally, when people said that to him after learning about his dad, Rin could tell they were only saying it because common courtesy dictated that they should. But when Ryugazaki said it, he heard real sincerity in those words. He heard empathy behind that simple sentence.

“I'm sorry, not just about what happened to your father, but also for making you relive that experience,” Ryugazaki continued, tentatively touching Rin's arm. “It makes sense that you dislike magic so much, given your history with it. I'm sorry for pushing you.”

Rin met his gaze. Ryugazaki's eyes were filled with real, raw sadness and regret. Rin shook his head again, touching Ryugazaki's hand. He felt as though this intimate touch sparked something within him tha the couldn't quite name. It was strange; usually, when he thought about or talked about his father's death, he felt horrible afterward. Now, though, he felt oddly relieved and unusually calm about it. Perhaps it was because Ryugazaki seemed to genuinely care about _his_ feelings about the whole situation, rather than simply wanting to escape an awkward conversation as most people did.

“Look, it's not your fault,” he admitted quietly. “I just can't do that trick.”

“I understand. But you wouldn't have to do much. I've done this trick before. For the last few of my grandfather's shows, I did most of the bigger illusions because of his failing health.”

“I'm just not...not comfortable with it right now,” Rin murmured. “Maybe somewhere down the line, but right now...” He shook his head. “I don't want to watch anyone else die.”

“All right. We'll talk about the trick later.” Ryugazaki offered him a smile. “It's pretty late. You can stay here tonight, if you like.”

After considering that for a few minutes, Rin nodded. He wasn't entirely sure he had the statmina to walk home at the moment. He was emotionally drained, despite how _good_ it had felt to finally tell Ryugazaki what was bothering him, why he disliked magicians so much.

“Is there anything you'd like for dinner?” his boss asked.

“I'm not really in the mood to eat anything right now,” Rin admitted. “I think I'll just get some sleep.”

Ryugazaki nodded. “I'll be in the master bedroom if you need anything. See you in the morning, Matsuoka-kun.”

Once the bluenette had left the room, Rin pulled out his phone and dialed his sister's number.

<“Hello?”>

“Hey, Gou, I'm not coming home tonight; I'm staying at Ryugazaki's place.”

He heard his sister giggle. <“Oh, are you? Looks like my brother is finally growing up.”>

“It's not like that, you pervert,” Rin muttered, rolling his eyes. “We're just...working late tonight.” He couldn't very well tell her that he'd passed out. She wouldn't take that well and would either worry excessively about him or tease him to no end. “Look, I just wanted to give you a head's up so you don't worry, okay? I'll be back sometime tomorrow evening.”

<“Don't worry, Oni-chan, I won't wait up.”>

He rolled his eyes again. “G'night, sis.”

Hanging up the phone, he took off his shirt and tossed it to the floor. He lay down, staring up at the ceiling. Why did his sister have to act like such a _fujoshi_ when it came to him and his boss? It didn't matter that he _definitely_ had a crush on Ryugazaki; he didn't want to think about the kinds of things Gou might be imagining at the moment, never mind the fact that he and Ryugazaki weren't even seeing each other that way.

_Yet_ .

“Don't get ahead of yourself,” he muttered, curling up in bed. They were probably a _long_ way from anything like that.

 

 


	7. New Looks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rei finally lets Rin come up with his own stage costume.

Rei woke early the next morning with Matsuoka's story still fresh in his mind. It was enough to make him not want to even look at the water tank for a long time, and he was sure Matsuoka would feel the same way. That meant the first thing to be done that morning was to move the tank out of the office and into one of the storage rooms.

The thing was a pain in the butt to move because it was so big. If he hadn't asked the original movers to put it on a wheeled base for the moment, he'd be in a bad way. Fortunately, it wasn't filled with water yet, making it at least a _little_ more managable to move. As it was, it only took him about fifteen minutes to get the huge tank into one of the nearby storage rooms.

With that out of the way, he decided to make some breakfast before waking Matsuoka. Admittedly, though, Rei wasn't all that great when it came to cooking, so he stuck with something simple: miso soup and rice. Once breakfast was made, he set two places at the table and headed up to the guest room Matsuoka was using. He was about to knock on the door, but paused when he heard hysterical sobbing from inside the room. Forgoing courtesy, he threw open the door to see Matsuoka hugging himself and rocking back and forth on the bed.

“Rin!”

Rei rushed over to him and, without really thinking, wrapped Matsuoka in a hug. He pulled the young man's head to his chest and and wrapped his other arm around Matsuoka's shoulders. The redhead sobbed into his chest for almost ten full minutes before pulling back and wiping his eyes roughly.

“Are you all right?” Rei asked him.

“...yeah, I...I just had a nightmare...” Matsuoka muttered, staring at Rei's chest.

Rei wanted to slap himself for ever suggesting the Chinese Water Torture Cell as an illusion for the two of them to do on stage. The memories it dredged up for Matsuoka were obviously incredibly detrimental, and Rei felt _awful_ about causing him all this pain. He frowned, shaking his head.

“I'm so sorry, Matsuoka-kun,” he said softly. “This is all because I suggested...I'm sorry.”

“No, it's not your fault.” Matsuoka sighed heavily, wiping his eyes again. “It happens a lot.”

The situation was quickly becoming uncomfortable. Rei wasn't used to trying to comfort people like this, so he wasn't entirely sure what to say or how to make Matsuoka feel better. Adjusting his glasses, he stood back up and cleared his throat.

“I've fixed us some breakfast, Matsuoka-kun. Please take your time to freshen up. I'll be in the dining room waiting for you, all right?”

When Matsuoka nodded, Rei left the room, closing the door behind him. He leaned back against it and clutched at his chest. This was bad. Yes, he'd hired Matsuoka because he was attractive and graceful, but Rei had never anticipated that he might actually...

_Don't even think about it,_ he thought, shaking his head as he made his way back to the dining room.  _You have to keep this professional. Besides, if nothing else, now is **definitely** not the right time for this._

He sat down at the table and waited. It took another twenty minutes for Matsuoka to come into the dining room. He looked a little refreshed, at the very least, and looked far less anxious than he had when Rei had gone into the guest room. They ate breakfast in silence; Rei honestly just couldn't think of anything to say, and he was sure Matsuoka still felt a little uncomfortable. When they finished breakfast, Matsuoka asked if he could just do some cleaning for a while in an effort to clear his head. Rei agreed, heading into the office and grabbing his sketchbook.

The next few hours found Rei sketching out costumes for him and Matsuoka as well as sketching out plans for new illusions. Meanwhile, Matsuoka cleaned not just the office, but also the guest room he'd been using. By the time he finished all of that and came back to the office, he looked much more composed. Rei offered him the sketchbook so he could look through the new costumes. Matsuoka studied the costumes, chuckled after a moment, and shook his head. Grabbing a pencil from the desk, he turned the page and sketched out his own costume before showing it to Rei.

While Matsuoka's sketch was different than the ones Rei had been coming up with, it had a lot of similarities, too. The costume was tight, but not quite as form-fitting as the leotards and such that Rei had come up with. Rather, it was made up of tight-fitting pants, a short-sleeved undershirt that fit snugly across the chest, covered by an equally tight-fitting vest. The shoes were knee-high platforms with one-inch heels. Matsuoka had even added notes about which colors he thought the costume would look best in: violet shoes and vest, light blue pants, and a yellow undershirt.

“It's a bit metrosexual, don't you think?” Rei asked, glancing at Matsuoka.

“Trust me, it's perfect,” Matsuoka said, grinning. “It'll draw the audience's attention to me and away from you, which is exactly what you want, right? It's colorful, so it'll get the kids focused on me. A lot of women are interested in flashy guys, so it'll attract their attention. And it's better than fishnet leggings.”

Rei smiled. “All right. I suppose I'll have to alter my own planned costume a bit to fit this, but I like it. Let's go to the tailor's place, then, and get measured for our new costumes, shall we?”

When Matsuoka nodded, Rei grabbed a couple of pages from the sketchbook and they headed out the door. Before long, they were at the tailor's place. Rei got measured first and explained the colors and material he wanted to the tailor, who did his own quick sketch and made notes on it. Then he measured Matsuoka, and Rei absolutely did  _not_ stare at him the entire time admiring his amazing body. No, he most definitely did  _not_ do that.

Once they'd both been measured, the tailor disappeared into a back room, assuring them it would only take him a couple of hours to finish the costumes. It wasn't like Rei and Matsuoka could go back to the office and actually get anything done before having to come back, so they just stuck around and started going over the schedule for that night's magic show. Other than the Chinese Water Torture Cell—Rei shuddered at the mere thought of it due to the discomfort it caused Matsuoka—the young stage assistant was open to virtually any illusion under the sun. They'd been practicing plenty of big illusions already, and didn't take long to agree on a few of them to perform that night on stage.

In what seemed like no time, the tailor was bringing their stage costumes out of the back room. Rei got fitted in his first, with the tailor making a few minor adjustments here and there to make sure it fit perfectly. By the time he was finished, Rei studied himself in the mirror with a grin. The dark navy and (purple) almost looked almost black in the current light, but he knew the swirling designs they formed on the suit jacket and top hat would really pop under the spotlights on stage. With a nod of approval from Matsuoka, Rei thanked the tailor and changed back into his more casual clothes.

Now it was Matsuoka's turn. When he came out of the dressing room in the costume he'd designed, Rei swore his heart skipped a beat. The kid looked _good_ in it. The way the undershirt hugged his frame was, well, enticing. He'd been right—the colors definitely drew attention to him. The tightness of the costume would allow for the best movement in most situations; a looser-fitting costume would have the potential of snagging or catching and possibly ruining an illusion. Aside from the practical value of the tight-fitting clothes, they accentuated Matsuoka's  musculature perfectly.

“What do you think?” Matsuoka asked, turning in a slow circle to allow Rei a good look at all of him. God, he looked good in that costume. This was _definitely_ better than fishnet leggings. Somehow, the fact that this costume left more to the imagination was just... “You're just staring, Ryugazaki. I don't know if that means it's good or bad.”

“Ah, it's good,” Rei replied, shaking his head a bit. “Definitely good. You've got a good eye for costume design, Matsuoka. You...you look great in it. It definitely catches the eye.”

“Thought so.” He looked in the mirror and flashed himself a grin. “Are we going to wear our new stage costumes tonight?”

“I should think so. These costumes should lend themselves well to the illusions we've decided on for tonight.”

Matsuoka went to change while Rei paid the tailor. Magician and assistant then made their way back to the office with their new costumes in tow. They prepared everything for the show that night and headed off to the auditorium. The moment they reached the stage and the spotlights turned on, they received a round of applause from their audience, far larger and louder than normal. The new costumes, it seemed, were a success.

In fact, by the time the show was over that night, they'd managed to secure contracts for three private shows. Rei had only ever had one private show on his schedule at a time, _never_ three! Things were really looking up now that he had a stage assistant to help him out. He told Matsuoka as such as they unpacked the equipment back at the office.

“I honestly can't thank you enough,” Rei told him with a smile. “If you hadn't agreed to become my stage assistant, I wouldn't be anywhere _near_ this successful right now. It's all thanks to you.”

“Does that mean I get a raise soon?” Matsuoka asked coyly. An uneasy chuckle escaped him. “Nah, I'm just kidding. Honestly, it's been a lot more fun than I thought it would be. You've really changed my perspective on magicians.”

“I'm glad.” Rei hung up both their new stage costumes in the closet before locking up the office. “I'll see you tomorrow, Matsuoka. I think we'll talk about some stage design before we begin practicing our act.”

“Sounds awesome! See you tomorrow, Ryugazaki!”

Matsuoka headed out of the house and made his way down the street at a brisk walk. Rei watched him closely until he was out of sight. He wanted to do something nice for Matsuoka because of all the help he'd been giving him. He really couldn't imagine where he would be right now if Matsuoka had never agreed to help him.

A raise was definitely in order. But he felt like he should do more than that. He headed back inside and up to his bedroom, grabbing a notebook from the nightstand next to the bed. Opening the notebook, he started making notes about things he knew about Matsuoka. His likes, dislikes, favorite foods, things like that. Once Rei had compiled a list, he could figure out the best possible way to thank him.

And he definitely wanted it to be perfect.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for this chapter taking so long! I moved recently, and the weeks leading up to that were pretty stressful for me. Future chapters should be updated more quickly! =3


	8. Drowning Deja Vu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin's nights are plagued by nightmares of the Chinese Water Torture Cell, so Rei comes up with a plan to help deal with his anxiety associated with it.

It had been another couple of weeks since Rin and Ryugazaki had gotten their new stage costumes, and things were going great. They had done a few private shows, which Rin rather liked, honestly, especially since they were mostly for kids' birthdays and stuff like that. The kids were always so excited and awed by Ryugazaki's illusions. Their new costumes definitely helped, as well, making them look a bit flashier but also a bit more professional.

Ryugazaki had recently given Rin a raise, which was _incredibly_ helpful to his family at the moment. Things were definitely looking up.

Well, for the _most_ part.

Ever since Ryugazaki mentioned the Chinese Water Torture Cell, Rin's nightmares have increased in both number and severity. Sometimes he watched his father drown, other times it was Gou, and still other times he himself was drowning in those nightmares. He was doing his best to deal with them, but it was incredibly difficult.

Rin woke in a cold sweat, bolting upright in bed. That night featured a different nightmare altogether, if only because of who drowned in it. It was Ryugazaki. Rin had never had a nightmare so frightening, not even the recurring one of his father drowning. Perhaps that's because in _this_ one, he was right next to the water tank, banging on it desperately to try to free his drowning boss. Close enough to see the panic on his face as he struggles to escape his watery prison. Close enough to see the life leave those normally vibrant violet eyes.

He couldn't shake those images from his mind, couldn't stop picturing those dead eyes. He grabbed his phone and stared at the screen as it lit up. It was almost three o'clock in the morning; technically too early to be awake. But he knew he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep with those images flashing through his mind. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep without knowing for certain that Ryugazaki was all right. It was stupid of him to think like that, and he knew it. It was just a dream, after all; it's not like Ryugazaki was really in any trouble. Feeling like a complete idiot, Rin typed a quick text message and sent it:

 

[ **To: Ryugazaki**

_Dumb question, but are you ok?_ ]

 

And he waited. And waited. After half an hour, he started to worry. It was stupid of him to worry, just as it had been stupid to even send the text message in the first place. But he couldn't help himself. He couldn't quiet the fear resting in his gut, forming a knot there.

So he got out of bed, put on a track suit, and headed out. He ran all the way to Ryugazaki's place. Once he finally reached it, he rant the doorbell and pounded on the door until he saw lights turning on. After anotehr moment or two, the door opened to reveal a very tired- and disheveled-looking Ryugazaki. He rubbed his eyes before sliding his glasses on, brow furrowing when he saw Rin.

“Matsuoka?”

Rather than reply, Rin threw his arms around Ryugazaki. He buried his face in the older man's chest, relieved tears soaking his pajama shirt.

“...Matsuoka? What is it? What's wrong?”

“I'm so glad you're okay,” Rin murmured into his chest.

“Why wouldn't I be okay?” Ryugazaki wrapped his arms around him in an incredibly comforting gesture. “What's going on?”

“It's stupid,” Rin grumbled, pulling back and wiping his eyes roughly. “I had a nightmare about you drowning. I couldn't get it out of my head until I saw you. I'm sorry for waking you. I'm sorry for being so illogical.”

“It's fine, Rin, really.”

It always shocked Rin whenever Ryugazaki used his given name. At the moment, he chalked it up to how tired his boss clearly was. Even so, Ryugazaki offered him a small smile.

“Why don't you stay here for the rest of the night?” the bluenette suggested. “It's late, and you're exhausted. I couldn't in good conscience send you back out into the night to head home alone.”

Rin nodded. He was worn out both emotionally  _and_ physically. Ryugazaki led him to the guest room he'd used before. Rin climbed into bed and curled up under the covers.

“Would you mind if I stay for a bit?” Ryugazaki asked softly.

“I...I'd like that,” Rin replied with a nod.

Ryugazaki sat down next to him; Rin felt the bed shift with his weight. His closeness was comforting. It helped Rin know, with absolute certainty, that he was alive and okay. With that certainty, it didn't take long for Rin to fall asleep again.

 

When Rin woke, Ryugazaki was bringing him breakfast. They both ate right there in the guest room. It was pretty much silent the whole time. Rin just kept thinking how much of a fool he'd been the night before, how stupid it had been for him to come over here acting like a scared little kid.

“I'm sorry again about last night,” he muttered, picking at his food. “I shouldn't have woken you. I shouldn't have come over.”

“It's fine, I promise,” Ryugazaki assured him with a genuine smile. “I'm actually glad you came over. I'm glad you feel comfortable enough with me to be willing to wake me up at god-awful hours of the morning. And I think I know how to help you with your nightmares.”

Rin perked up a bit. “You do?”

“Yes. Come with me.”

Ryugazaki led him down to the office. Rin stopped in the doorway when he saw the water tank there again, this time filled with water. He swallowed thickly, wanting nothing more than to run from that room, to get as far away from that damn water tank as possible. But he felt Ryugazaki's hand on his arm, grounding him.

“I know you're probably incredibly uncomfortable at the moment, but please hear me out,” Ryugazaki urged, meeting Rin's eyes.

Rin nodded slowly. He couldn't find his voice.

“I want to show you how this trick is _supposed_ to work,” Ryugazaki told him softly. “I want to explain it to you and then perform it for you.” He grabbed an axe leaning against the tank and handed it to Rin. “In case something goes wrong, you can always break the glass.”

Rin looked at the axe in his hands, then at Ryugazaki, shaking his head.

“I don't think I can do this,” he murmured. “The minute you're in there, I'm going to lose it. I just...I don't want to watch someone else I care about drown. I don't want—”

“Rin.” Ryugazaki touched his shoulders and looked him in the eye again. Seeing those eyes so vibrant, so full of life, as opposed to the dead lifeless eyes he saw in his dream, was reassuring. “I just want to help you, all right? I've done this trick a hundred times. As much as I _know_ you must distrust this illusion, please trust _me_.”

Rin closed his eyes. He didn't know. He didn't know if he could handle this. He wanted to believe that it would help, that it would work out fine, that Ryugazaki would be all right. He trusted Ryugazaki, he really did. When he opened his eyes again, he nodded.

“All right,” he agreed, clutching the axe tighter. “L-let's just...get this over with.”

Ryugazaki offered him a smile and a nod. “It isn't exactly the Chinese Water Torture Cell, at least not completely. I don't have a name for it yet. I don't go in upside down, never have. What I do is have an assistant fit stocks to my ankles and wrists, lower me into the tank via ropes and pulleys, and close and pretend to lock the lid. After giving the audience a moment or two to see me attempting to free myself, the assistant pulls a curtain over the tank. The curtain rests on an invisible wire, leaving enough room for the lid to be opened without notice. That's when I pop my right thumb out of place and slip my right hand out of the stocks, fish the key from its hiding place on my person, unlock the stocks, open the lid, and head to the spot I picked out before the act for the reveal.”

Rin listened attentively, nodding. It made sense, and sounded safe enough. He could probably handle this. He could probably...

“Just do it, okay?” Rin muttered. “Just show me so we can get working on other things.”

“I'll need your help with the stocks and getting me into the tank,” Ryugazaki told him.

Setting the axe next to the tank again, Rin grabbed the stocks that his boss handed to him. He locked them around Ryugazaki's ankles and wrists, slipped the key into the pocket he pointed out, then helped him into the tank. Ryugazaki smiled at him and nodded, at which point Rin closed the lid. Then he grabbed the axe and stood back to watch.

He clutched the axe close to his chest, praying he wouldn't have to use it. It only took Ryugazaki a moment to pop his thumb out of place and slip his hand from the stocks. He fished the key from his pocket and began unlocking his restraints, starting with his other wrist. But as he maneuvered in the water to reach his ankles, he dropped the key. Rin flinched, but Ryugazaki put up a hand to steady him. He reached down and fumbled with the key, but couldn't seem to pick it up. Rin's eyes widened when Ryugazaki exhaled, frantic bubbles racing toward the top of the tank, and then drew in a breath.

_No, no, no, it's happening again!_ Rin thought as his heart began to race.  _I can't...I **can't**...!_

He lifted the axe and swung it at the glass, but didn't even crack it. He swung it again, using more force this time, this time creating a massive spider crack. One more swing, and the glass shattered, water spilled from the tank, and Ryugazaki was deposited on the floor. When he didn't cough right away, Rin felt his pulse increase even more.

“Ryugazaki?” he asked, hitting his cheek in an effort to wake him. Nothing. “Rei?!”

_Shit, shit, what do I do?_

He leaned down and pressed his lips to Ryugazaki's, breathing into his mouth. He tried this a few times before Ryugazaki finally coughed and sputtered, turning onto his side to better expel the water from his lungs. Rin pulls him into a hug, pressing an unconscious kiss to Ryugazaki's cheek, shaking now that the adrenaline rush was wearing off. He wanted to cry, he was so happy. He'd managed it. He'd managed to save him.

“...sorry...Rin...” Ryugazaki said hoarsely, wrapping his arms around the younger man. “...that...that wasn't...supposed to happen...”

“Shut up,” Rin half-sobbed. “I'm just glad you're okay. I'm just...I'm just glad I could...save you.”

Ryugazaki pulled back a bit to offer him a weak smile. “I heard you...say my name. My given name.”

“...I was scared. I wasn't...thinking.”

“I don't mind. You...you can keep...using it, if you like.”

Rin nodded. “...can we...take a break, Rei? Can we just relax today? I mean, I can clean up all this water, but I think  _you_ should definitely take it easy for a while.”

“That's...probably a good idea.” Ryugazaki—no, Rei—agreed. “Could you...help me to my room?”

Rin helped his boss to his feet, draping his arm over his shoulders. They made their way through the house to the master bedroom, where Rin helped him onto the bed. He sat down next to him, returning the smile Rei offered him.

“Thank you, Rin.”

“For what?” Rin asked, his smile faltering.

“For saving me. For worrying about me. For the kiss.”

“Kiss?” Rin blushed and looked away. “I don't know what you're talking about. It was mouth-to-mouth. You weren't breathing.”

“Uh-huh.” Rei took his hand and kissed the back of it. “Thank you anyway.”

Rin looked at him in shock, then looked at his hand, then looked back at Rei.

_That just happened, right?_ he thought, feeling the blush warm his cheeks even further.  _He really just...does that mean he feels the same about me as I do about him?_

“I'll just...go get the water in the office cleaned up,” he said suddenly, making a hasty exit from the master bedroom. The time didn't feel right for a confession, not immediately after Rei almost died. No, it would have to come later.

He would have to plan it just right.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize that this took so long! School has been rough already.  
> As always, comments and kudos are appreciated! =3

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and/or comments always appreciated! =3


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